Warrant issued to arrest 8 Huji men

A Dhaka court yesterday issued arrest warrants against eight Harkatul Jihad (Huji) men, including the younger brother of detained former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, in connection with the Ramna Batamul bomb blast case.
The accused are Pintu's brother Maulana Mohammad Tajuddin, Maulana Abdul Hannan Sabbir, Maulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar, Maulana Abu Bakar alias Selim Hawlader, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Maulana Yahiya and Mufti Abdul Hye.
Accepting the charge sheet submitted by Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Chief Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Enamul Haque issued the arrest warrants against them and orders to attach their properties.
The court directed the officers-in-charge (OCs) concerned to submit their reports within December 29 on the arrest warrants issued against the Huji men.
The court also granted a plea submitted by the IO for discharging 29 others from the case.
CID Inspector Abu Hena Mohammad Yusuf, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka on Sunday.
The IO also included the names of Huji chief Mufti Abdul Hannan Munshi alias Abul Kalam and five others in the charge sheet. They are Arif Hasan Suman alias Abdur Razzak, Maulana Akbar Hossain alias Helaluddin, Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel, Maulana Abu Taher and Maulana Abdur Rauf. They were earlier arrested from different places and now in jail custody.
The IO also submitted another charge sheet against the same accused in a case filed under the Explosive Substances Act.
The bloodbath that took place during Pahela Baishakh celebrations on April 14, 2001 left 10 people dead and scores injured.
Of the cases filed with Ramna Police Station, one was for murder and another for possession and use of explosive substances.
During the investigation of the cases, Hannan, Akbar and Suman gave confessional statements to magistrates on different dates.
Meanwhile, the case filed under the Explosive Substances Act was transferred to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court yesterday for its trial.